PUPPIES!
by Miss Selah
Summary: Ambrosius had puppies. And we all thought it was a boy dog... It seems that those little balls of fluff are rubbing off... Jareth Sarah


* * *

**PUPPIES!**

* * *

"That's... that's just _not fair!_" Sarah growled out when Hoggle told her the news.

"You _do _say that quite often..." Hoggle commented as he peeled an apple, watching Sarah's bewildered expression out of the corner of his eye. She was just _so _amusing sometimes, and he_, _like his King, couldn't resist godding the poor girl whenever he saw that opportunity. It was just too much _fun..._

"But I _mean _it. That is just not fair." Sarah pouted. _At least the DOGS got a happily ever after. _She scowled. Of all the rotten luck. "So how many puppies did they have?"

"Eight in all, those rowdy little buggers... but at least they are good at chasing away those blasted faeries... I would have like to have taken one, but it kept trying to play _fetch _with my treasures, and I don't care how good ya' are at getting those little sprites, there is no constituting stealing my jewels." He gave Sarah a pointed look and held the precious bag a bit closer to his waist.

She rolled her eyes. She had _thought _he was over that... "Anyways, I thought Ambrosius was a _boy_ dog." Sarah pointed out, having another sip of her cup of tea and giving Merlin a pat on the head. Lucky bloke got to get his... she supposed that was enough...

"Things aren't always what they seem to be in the Labyrinth," Hoggle told her sagely, "but honestly, that threw us all through a hoop. Apparently, even the King was surprised! And that _never _happens, never, you know."

She could picture it. She really could. Jareth, Goblin King, jaw slack and for once, completely and utterly speechless as Sir Didymus presented him with Ambrious' pups, asking him if he would like one. A wicked snort escaped her, then a chuckle, and before she knew it she was struggling to keep her tea down.

"Ain't very funny if ya' ask me." Hoggle moaned, waggling one finger at Sarah with a deep frown marring his brow. "Do you know how many mouths we gotta feed down there? And the Goblins aren't giving up any of their chickens... and it's not the best farming land..."

Sarah snorted. "Well, at least you don't have a lack of _peaches..._"

"Peaches?" He had the nerve to actually looked confused, and Sarah shook her head.

"Never mind. So... who are the puppies going to?"

Hoggle shrugged. "Well, it's not like we can keep them. Jareth will probably dispose of them at some undisclosed location..."

"WHAT!?" Sarah exclaimed, slamming her cup down. "That's horrible!"

"No it's not." Hoggle said. "It is _necessary._ Can't take in all those babies and puppies. You have got to have your priorities, Missy."

Sarah looked at Merlin, trying to imagine what he life would be like if someone had just _disposed _of him... He was her _baby. _She supposed that made his puppies her grand babies. Er... puppies. In a moments time, she knew exactly what needed to be done.

"I wish the goblins would come and take us away right now." She exclaimed, holding tight to Merlin collar as the magic caught and they vanished, leaving Hoggle shaking his head.

"Silly thing; I don't see why she didn't just take the mirror." He finished his tea and followed.

* * *

News of Jareth's castle had been greatly exaggerated. It was more like a large, poorly kept hotel, housing the vast majority of the Labyrinth's citizens in it's dilapidated walls. His castle, Jareth had decided, was just as much of a sham as his Kingship. He nearly snorted when he thought of all the power he had over his noisy, rambunctious denizens. _Ha. _

_ At least the helping hands decided to leave the castle grounds..._ he had to be thankful for his small blessings, wherever her could find them. _They just got plain tired of dealing with the chickens pecking at their fingertips..._

Jareth was considering the benefits of maintaining a new housing development in the Bog when _she _appeared, a shaggy white dog at her side.

_Oh, happy day._ Jareth thought with a sneer_. What's she come to ruin this time? _"And what precisely are you doing here?"

"I'm coming to take back my puppies that you have stolen from us!"

He would have laughed, but her expression was _serious. _

_"_What in the world are you talking about, Sarah dear?" Jareth plucked a particularly annoying Goblin from the arm of his chair and tossed it in to the mosh pit of fur that surrounded him.

Sarah edged away from the commotion that followed. "Er... Merlin's puppies. I have come to rescue them from you sinister clutches."

"What in the world do you think this is?" Jareth asked, standing from his chair. "You barge in here, not once, but _twice, _making demands and destroying the place! Do you think gravity defying stairways are _cheap?_" Jareth got up and stalked a bit, circling her once. She did her best to not cower. She was not a scared little girl anymore. That was at least three months ago. And she had some _puppies _to save.

"It may not be a very good Kingdom," Jareth admitted, continuing, "but it's _my _kingdom, and I won't have you smashing anymore magic mirrors or breaking anymore thousand-year bridges." _Or hearts. _He wasn't about to let the spoiled chit back in. Not after he had let her in to more than just his kingdom...

After all, it wasn't just his world that she shattered.

"And _I _wont let _you_ go around _disposing _of my innocent grand-puppies." Sarah frowned up at him, jutting her chin forward. "Give them to _me _if you don't want them!"

"Are you talking about the Bog-Guardian's puppies?" Jareth asked, a little offended that she hadn't come back for him after all. "Take them, they are of little concern to me."

"Oh." Sarah muttered, uneasy that it had been so easy. "Okay." Merlin trotted over to the Goblin King's side and gave him a good sniff. "You mean, just like that?"

Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose as the Goblins began to clamber on to the chandelier again. "Well, what did you _expect _of me?"

_I am exhausted of living up to your expectations of me... _

"You... you won't try to drown them or anything, will you?"

Jareth chortled. "_Drown _them?!" He reached forward to grab her hand and in a breathless moment, they were near the beginning of the Labyrinth. Sarah looked around, disoriented, and saw eight tiny puppies snapping at the eye-plants that grew in the cracks of the walls. Jareth picked one up by it's tiny white scruff and held it to her eyes. "Would _you_ want to drown these bits of fluff?"

It snapped at her nose.

Sarah squealed quietly when a tiny pink tongue darted out to lick her nose. "But... but..." Jareth handed it to her, and she cradled it like a baby. "Hoggle said that you were going to dispose of them at an undisclosed location."

Jareth sneered. "Leave it to you to misinterpret everything. Do you think that the Goblins are mature enough to care for _puppies?_" Sarah looked thoughtful. She shuddered to think of all the trouble that the puppies could get in to with _Goblins _about... "No, no. I can't let them have puppies. I was going to drop them off at worthy family's homes, where they will be loved. I believe that you obtained your beast in a similar fashion?"

Sarah started. "Merlin?" She thought back five years. She had been ten, and wished, _oh, how she had wished, _for a puppy. "You... you gave me Merlin?"

"Well, I _have _been generous with you." He put his hands on his hips. "Fancy that. Now if you excuse me, I have a kingdom to rule."

Sarah reached out to him, and when her naked hand connected with the bare skin of his arm, he shuddered. _Damn her, _Jareth thought as he pulled away his arm, _wasn't it enough? Did she have to take the shattered remains of his pride as well? _

"What... what you said before. The last time." She stammered, and he forgived her for bringing him to his knees. "Did you mean it?"

_If only she would just leave well enough alone..._ "I wouldn't _lie _to you, Sarah." He turned to face her, and plucked her hand from his arm. "Cheat, exaggerate, barter, bargain, and steal, maybe, but I would never _lie._"

She shifted uneasily, and Jareth found that he was enjoying himself. _So this is how the other half lives..._

"I didn't mean it, you know." Sarah whispered so quietly he almost missed it. "You _do _have some pow-"

"Not now, Sarah." He pulled her close, and took a long sniff of her hair. "_Don't say it." _

So she didn't.

They stood that way for a long, quiet moment, until one of the puppies began gnawing on the soft supple leather of his boots.

"What a pair." Sarah murmured in to his lapel as she stifled a snort.

"Yes..." He irritably grabbed the puppy by the back of it's neck. "And I will make a pair of boots out of _you _if you do not cease and desist immediately, you ball of fur."

It wagged it's tail and lolled it's tongue in amusement.

"She's so cute." Sarah clapped her hands together. "What's her name?"

"Jareth." He decided after a long moment. Sarah gave him a pointed look. "Well what would _you _call the little beast?"

"Sarah." She answered blithely, taking her from him. "She looks like a Sarah."

"Yes, and I am sure that she is just as much trouble as her namesake."

She coddled the tiny puppy and she let out a long yawn.

"May I... may I ask you favor?" She asked quietly.

Jareth frowned. "Haven't you gotten everything that you wanted yet, you spoiled little girl?"

Sarah flinched, but didn't argue. "I will not lie Jareth; what I did was awful, and I would really like to make it up to you."

"Yes, well the world doesn't work the way we want it to, does it?" Jareth frowned and caught the ends of her hair. "After all, what are you but a heroine without a challenge?" _What am I, but a King without a Kingdom?_

"I would still like to try," Sarah began a bit more forcefully this time. "If you will still have me."

"And what could you possibly do to make things right?" Jareth asked, eyes shining with the hurt that still lingered. "What could you do to make everything better?"

"I honestly have no idea." She told him with a laugh as she handed him the puppy. "But I was thinking that we could start with pizza and then head to a movie."

Jareth started. Something so plain, simple, something so _ordinary _had obviously never occurred to him.

"I mean, at least to begin with. If you like, we could move on to the whole 'fear me, love me,' thing in a few months..."Sarah tried to laugh, but it got caught in her throat. "What do you say?"

The puppy bit a gloved finger and Jareth yelped. "Well, let's start by finding homes for these beasts before we do anything else."

"We?"

"Well," Jareth struggled to maintain his hold on the puppy, but it leapt deftly from his arms and landed in a pile on top of two of the other puppies. "I certainly can't do it by myself."

"But... how could I help?" She was picturing them standing out in front of a walmart holding up free puppy signs. Somehow, she doubted that was Jareth's style. "I don't have any magic."

"Of _course _you do." Jareth touched the his second finger to his bottom lip and skimmed the tip of her upturned nose. "You have a kind of magic that I could never hope to have."

"What's that?" She asked, completely thrown of kilter.

"You, my pretty little Sarah, have the power to _dream." _

Sarah smiled and closed her eyes, and on a whisper of a breath, she _wished. _

The puppies vanished, presumably to homes where they could be loved until the day they died. She smiled, and patted Merlin's head. _Just like him..._

"You know," she told him after a long moment of silence, "I could probably use a ride home..."

He shook his head. "Such a _spoiled _child... everything is handed to you on a silver platter..."

"Well," she asked with a frown, "how would you suggest that I get home then?"

"Oh, I am not suggesting you get home on your own, all I am suggesting is that perhaps you pay for my services for once." He had a mischievous smile, and she knew immediately that he was playing with her.

"Ah, well, if you were Hoggle, I would give you something rare; if you were Ludo, I would give you a stone; if you were Didymus I would give you a board game..." She circled him, one hand at his waist. His eyes followed her sharply. "And if you were the wise man, I would give you something precious. What could a King possibly want?"

He transported her home, and caught the hand that rested at his hips. He held it to his face. "A kiss, perhaps?"

Sarah looked as though she were debating it for a long moment before she nodded. "That, for a change, sounds just fair indeed." She leaned up and gave him a short, chaste kiss on the cheek.

Her lips were as soft as he had thought that they would be, as she kissed the spot on his cheek that quickly became a dimple. "Perhaps this... _pizza _and a movie would be pleasant... but you could always give me a few more kisses."

"Now Jareth," she shook a finger at him as she took a few steps back, "that wouldn't be very fair to me at all."

"Then one more before I go?"

Sarah nodded. "Just one though." She leaned up to kiss his cheek again and he turned his head sharply, so that her lips touched his. They sizzled on the contact, but just as suddenly as she could gasp, he was gone, his laughter hanging in the air.

She touched her lips, which were still warm, and then held up her other hand, that held the necklace that she had stolen off of his neck. She smiled. He wasn't the only one who could play dirty... she had to have _some _leverage, just in case he decided to pull another 'cleaners' move on their date.

She tossed it in to the air and caught it with a giggle. She could practically see his expression now.

"Not very fair, is it?"

She heard a distance growl of frustration and laughed.

* * *

_Sequel to come, by request of Ldeetz_


End file.
